Discussing new ways to meet the needs of law firm clients, mediation parties, negotiators, and law students.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Update: The Value of a Legal Education -- On Average $1,030,000

New Data Informing

the Debate

In several postings here, here, and here, I tracked the debate between Brian Tamanaha, author of Failing Law Schools, and Michael Simkovic and Frank McIntyre, co-authors of The Value of a Law Degree.

In a recent posting, Simkovic & McIntyre update their economic analysis and take apart the basis for Tamanaha's more dismissal point of view.

They conclude:

Comparing lifetime earnings of law degree holders to earnings of similar bachelor’s degree holders, we find that the pretax value of a law degree is approximately $1,030,000 on average, $770,000 at the median, $430,000 at the twenty-fifth percentile, and $1,420,000 at the seventy-fifth percentile. These figures include the opportunity costs of foregone wages while in law school and financing costs. We also provide separate analyses of earnings for men and women. We find that the value of a law degree at the median is higher for women than for men because of a larger increase in work hours, but at the mean, the value for men and women is similar.

Thus, the value of a law degree typically exceeds its costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Even at the twenty-fifth percentile, a law degree is typically a profitable investment.At current price levels, law degrees generally provide an attractive double-digit pretax rate of return. Legal education is profitable both for students and for the federal government as tax collector and lender. In sum, the evidence simply does not support Professor Tamanaha’s thesis.

About Me

She helps people learn the skills they need to lead happier lives, solve problems effectively, and resolve conflict holistically with wisdom, skill, and heart.

The Virginia Mediation Network
(VMN), the largest statewide group of mediation practitioners, trainers, and
scholars gave her its first Distinguished Mediator Award in 2010. Who’s Who
in America recognizes her as among top
executives and professionals. Martindale-Hubbell
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Woman Lawyer with highest peer ratings for legal ability and ethics
(2002-2013).

She works as a Clinical Professor
of Law at Qatar University College of Law. She teaches legal research and writing, group facilitation, negotiation, mediation, arbitration, dispute resolution
system design, environmental dispute resolution, and insurance
practice.

Before
she joined academia, Prof. Young was a partner
in a St. Louis law firm -- McCarthy Leonard -- providing nearly 20 years of
experience as a commercial dispute litigator, mediator, and arbitrator
specializing in contract disputes, insurance, reinsurance, and energy law. Before that, Prof. Young practiced as an
associate in one of the largest law firms in the world - Skadden Arps – in its Washington, D.C. office engaged in an oil and
gas and public utility law
practice. She also worked in the Energy
Department of the largest law firm in
Oklahoma after graduating from law school.

Prof. Young has written over 50 law
review publications, book chapters, book reviews, and op-ed articles on
mediation, arbitration, insurance law, and energy law. Her
publications appear in law journals, bar journals, and at mediate.com.